Synthesizer

Hey guys i'm kind of a piano noob.. actually yeah I'm definitely really a piano nooby.

Using Andrew's guide i learned how to play Fur Elise fairly easily, probably due to the power of his tutorial though.

Well anyway, I just recently got into piano because I'm also looking into getting into synthesizers. Ultimately I want to be the synth player in a pop/punk/hardcore band, like Motion City Soundtrack, Chiodos, The Devil Wears Prada, Forever The Sickest Kids, and Scary Kids Scaring Kids, just to name a few...

Anyway I've looked for hours and cannot find ANYTHING that teaches you where to begin, I recently bought myself a MicroKorg and it's very fun to play around on, though I cannot find that soft but powerful pop/punk sound.

If anyone knows where to begin or has any say on where to begin with this or can just talk about it, any help or input is appreciated.


Thanks!
Brandon

Hi Brandon...
Welcome. Most of us here are piano noobs, so you are not alone

If I'm right, a microKorg has 49 keys. Which means you'll run out of keys sooner or later.
Since you want to become a band keyboardist, you could start by learning chords, and how they work. Do a google search on "Chord based piano". That should get you on your way.

The microkorg's main feature is its vocoder -so I wouldn't expect to find any really decent sounds in it. Though it's a really nice keyboard, and you could use it to learn keys and their names.
Once you're past this stage, ditch the keyboard!!... hehe -Seriously. 49 keys are not enough to learn on.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have...
Glad to have you here.

A microKorg got 37 keys, I almost bought one myself, but ended up with a synth modul, a Roland SH-32.

microKorg:



If you got a keyboard, you could just buy synthmoduls, instead of a synth with keys...
But if you dont have a keyboard, it's better to by a keyboardsynth.

I'm amazed of what you can do with a microKorg ( if you dont look at the few keys )...
It's cheap, you get a vocoder, and you get a bunch of possibilities,
maybe you could just buy a keyboard and hook it up with the Korg?

But you say you dont get the pop/punk sounds you want, so better find a new synth.

thanks for the input guys! i've taught myself a bit with the first few of andrews lessons, and i agree with both of you about the microKorg, its definitely worth the 400 dollars and i think its great for an intro synth just to see how things work, but not fit for stage work. the editing capabilities of the microKorg are endless, Korg really did a good job. From the time i started looking into synths, Roland has always popped out at me.

i also have a Yamaha keyboard, an SYT-300, very basic, it has about 5 octaves so thats like what 40-ish keys.. i got it along long time ago as a gift of somesort. I do have the MIDI link and have linked them before though just as I'm writing this i realized i havent tried linking the yamaha as the Outport and the microKorg as the In, i think thats what you guys may have been talking about, i'll have to see if that works.

another question, the synthmodules you're talking about, are they kind of like pedals for a guitar? they just modify the sound coming out of my keyboard?

thanks alot guys!

hmm.. i think my dream synth is the Roland Fantom X6 =]

They're just synths without keys.... So you'll need a keyboard to play it... My Roland SH-32 got 1 octave (12 round knots ),
so you can barely play on it, you can only just test the sound... They skip the keys, and give you an ultraportable synth....

SH-32:

Ohhh ohh got it.. about how much do they go for? and which one do you think would be a good one just for begginners